Commuters urge MMDA to do something about disheveled drivers

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Someone had to say it.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino said he would look into an appeal of a commuters group to look into the compliance by public utility drivers with the regulations on good grooming.

“I haven’t heard it (the rules), but I know there are regulations governing that,” Tolentino told reporters Monday at Rizal Park in Manila where he checked out the government services fair for Independence Day.

He said the plea of the National Council for Commuter Protection to enforce the rules on good grooming may fall under the guidelines on uniforms set by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

From what he recalled, he said, the rules require drivers of jeepneys, taxis and buses to have on either white or light blue shirts and to wear shoes not slippers when driving.

Tolentino, however, tended to be partial to the drivers. “One must understand that we have been through a hot summer,” he said. Drivers have been spotted clad in dirty tank tops, shorts and flip-flops, and they sometimes reek and appear disheveled.

“I will look into their concern, but I think it’s hard to prevent the problem because of the weather,” said the MMDA chief. “I am more concerned though about the drivers’ fitness to drive their vehicles safely.”

In 2006, then MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando instituted a campaign that strictly enforced the dress code on PUV drivers.

Fernando went around Metro Manila to talk to drivers and convince them of the importance of good hygiene when plying their routes.

He distributed deodorant and cologne to drivers, and when the stock ran out he handed out tawas  (alum) sachets.